


Divine Pygmalion

by harpydora



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Cass/AuDy, Hieron AU, Hieron Universe, Hurt/Comfort, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Pygmalion AU, Season: COUNTER/Weight, Secret Samol 2020, Twine game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29115171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpydora/pseuds/harpydora
Summary: Making Anchors is difficult work. They hadn't even known how to work metal when they'd come here (they're a doctor, not a sculptor, for fuck's sake), but they've learned. Their steady surgeon's hands have become calloused with the work, but their precision serves Cass well. An eye that once searched for injury now searches for imperfections in the steel beneath their palms.It's difficult work. But as much as Cass loathes it, they can at least take solace in the fact that they're good at it.(Hieron AU where Cass follows mysterious instructions to craft a pala-din, and an unexpected adventure ensues.)This is a Twine adventure game meant to be played in your browser. Details are posted in the first chapter. CYOA adventure style text also available as I add it to the work.
Relationships: AuDy/Cassander Timaeus Berenice
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arpad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arpad/gifts).



> Here is my submission for Secret Samol 2020, made for the lovely Arp! I may have gone overboard but here is part one of my Twine game in response to the prompt:
> 
> "hieron au, Cassander is an Ordennan assembling pals-din in Samothes’s forge after the conquering of Marielda. one day they find notes for a unique model and become obsessed with making it despite not being able to read the text (or maybe the writing is just unclear). when they succeed it ends up being the body for a god, though they don’t immediately realize that. Liberty&Descovery occupy the pala-din as AuDy, and cass, despite themselves (and with some inner turmoil, being raised to distrust magic), becomes devoted - a paladin of L&D.
> 
> can be that introduction (...”meet cute”??) or in the future when they somehow (??) meet up with immolator Aria and wizard Mako."
> 
> I'm hoping to have the next part done in the next month or so, so keep an eye out for updates! I just ended up biting off a little more than I could chew in the timeframe of SecSam, but I hope that what's here is still enjoyable. (Don't worry, Mako's gonna show up in the next part so the gang will be all here.)
> 
> Anyway, the Twine version of the game is linked in the body of the first chapter, but if that doesn't work, or you'd rather not play it in Twine, I'll be uploading scenes as a "choose your own adventure" style format here on AO3. There's just... a lot of scenes, so it may take a while. Anyway, enjoy!

[Play the Twine game on Itch.io here.](https://harpydora.itch.io/divine-pygmalion)

Enter the password secsam2020 to be granted access.


	2. Part I

*PART ONE*


	3. Scene 1

The Forge in Marielda is sweltering, and Cassander Timaeus Berenice hates every second they spend there. But they'd been ordered here by the Apokine of Ordenna themself, a convenient way to keep the former royal scion out of the way of their eldest sibling, the returned heir to the throne.

Making Anchors is difficult work. They hadn't even known how to work metal when they'd come here (they're a doctor, not a sculptor, for fuck's sake), but they've learned. Their steady surgeon's hands have become calloused with the work, but their precision serves Cass well. An eye that once searched for injury now searches for imperfections in the steel beneath their palms.

It's difficult work. But as much as Cass loathes it, they can at least take solace in the fact that they're _good_ at it.

Their hammer swings, cutting the air with a _whoosh_ and followed by a _clang_.

A hand lands heavily on Cass's shoulder, startling them. Their grip on the handle of the hammer tightens, refusing to let it slip through their fingers despite their shock. They look up and wipe the sweat from their brow.

It's Koda's hand on their shoulder.

Their mentor smiles at them a little. "Focused as ever, I see. I hate to interrupt you, but I have an assignment for you."

"What could be more important than endlessly hammering ugly metal?" Cass asks, setting their hammer aside and wiping their hands on the apron tied around their waste.

Koda snorts and crosses their arms over their chest. "Hah. I need a spare pair of hands to investigate a chamber we just cracked open. We thought we'd cleared that wing, but a junior staff member found it earlier this week. I thought I'd give you a break from the heat, but if you're not interested…"

"Oh, I'm interested," Cass says quickly.

"That's what I thought," Koda replies with a grin.

\--

Find the mysterious chamber. - Go to Scene 2


	4. Scene 2

The chamber in question is the dustiest place Cass has ever seen, with a layer so thick on most surfaces that it's difficult to even tell what's on them. They take a moment to light the sconces set on each of the walls, though it doesn't do much to clarify what, exactly, is in the room. All it reveals are shelves upon shelves with what are probably books on them.

Cass takes a cloth from their pocket and ties it around their head to cover their nose and mouth. Ugh. This is going to take forever to go through. They pull out another cloth, this one more stained with rust and grease. "Might as well get started," they mutter, and get to dusting.

Even with the make-shift mask, they're wheezing by the time they've cleared most of the shelves. Most of them are stacked with books, as Cass had suspected, and most of the books aren't even worth the effort. Basic metalworking manuals, mostly, with a handful of tomes that are clearly copies of schematics the Ordennan forces have already adapted and put into production.

As Cass is about to leave, the light cast by one of the sconces glints off something metallic stuffed between two books and gives Cass pause. Not sure of the reason, they find themself drawn to it. Their fingers have grasped it before they realize what they're doing, and soon they find a slim metal plate in their hands.

\--

Put it back; it's useless. - Go to Scene 2A-1  
Look it over further. - Go to Scene 2B-1


	5. Scene 2A-1

At first glance, the etchings on it look like gibberish. Given how useless everything _else_ in this stupid chamber seems to be, the chances of this stupid plate being useable are slim-to-none. It would probably take some time to decipher it, and the shapes sketched out on it are far too smooth to be useful in the construction of the Anchor.

Cass sets the plate on a desk, turns, and closes the door behind themself as they leave.

\--

Later that night… - Go to Scene 2A-2


	6. Scene 2A-2

Cass sheds their clothing as soon as they enter their sparsely decorated quarters, leaving everything in a pile by the door. They make a beeline for the bathroom and immediately begin drawing a bath as cold as they can stand. Once the tub is nearly full to the overflow drain, they mix in a handful of salts and slide into the water up to their gills.

This is their favorite part of their day. The water tastes a little strange on the back of their throat, and the salts are all wrong to emulate the flavor of the water back home, but it will do. It has to.

They sigh, and their eyes slide shut.

\--

Dream. - Go to Scene 2B-3


	7. Scene 2B-1

They turn the plate over in their hands; it has etchings on both sides in a language they don't quite understand. But the diagrams are so clear that Cass can almost see how every piece described fits together without the benefit of the written instructions.

Not entirely sure why, Cass tucks the plate in their apron. All they know is that the plate is important somehow, though they balk at the idea of showing it to Koda.

No, they need to investigate it further before they share this information.

\--

Take it home - Go to Scene 2B-2


	8. Scene 2B-2

Rather than immediately going to draw themself a chilly bath, Cass shucks off their apron and pulls out the plate. Something about it compels them to run their hands over its surface, feeling the grooves where the instructions—and Cass intuitively _knows_ they are instructions—have been chiseled.

They take it with them into the cramped kitchenette area and lay it on the little round table that represents the place they eat. They throw together a meal from the few things they still have in their larder without much care to what they're using, and they spend their suppertime looking at the plate as if their continued staring could unlock the secrets of the text.

By the time they head to bed, they have a headache from keeping their gaze locked on the metallic surface. Feeling no closer to understanding what they've seen, Cass finally retires for the night.

\--

Dream. - Go to Scene 2B-3


	9. Scene 2B-3

Behind their eyelids, images swirl lazily around each other. The curves Cass saw dance amongst each other, interlocking as they do so until the picture they portray is so clear that Cass feels like they could touch it.

In their dream, Cass _does_ reach out. Their calloused fingertips brush over the surface in front of them: a hardened cheek formed out of smooth marble. It's like an Anchor, but not. Something simpler but something so much _more_. A word, pala-din, pops into Cass's mind.

Under their touch, the not-Anchor—the _pala-din_ —moves.

Cass jerks away and tips backwards, falling into their body with a pained gasp.

Their eyes flutter open. The figure of the pala-din floats hazily in front of them until they blink, and then it's gone.

\--

They know what they have to do. - Go to Scene 3-1


	10. Scene 3-1

With production ramping up, it's not that easy for Cass to slip away from their station in the Forge. Koda's attention is frequently elsewhere, though, which helps even out their chances, and Cass is determined. They manage to sneak into the material warehouse unseen only an hour into their shift.

The warehouse is a huge chamber hewn out of volcanic rock, and most of it is full of Ordennan steel. However, there are still remnants of the original materials the Forge had been meant for: iron, gold, platinum, silver.

And, tucked away in the back, smooth white marble.

Cass's breath hitches in their throat and they reach out to touch it.

It's exactly like they dreamed it would be.

\--

An uncanny instinct takes over. - Go to Scene 3-2


	11. Scene 3-2

It takes them two months to do it. No one goes to the back of the warehouse but Cass, so no one notices as the marble slowly goes missing. Cass works extra hours in the Forge to make up for the time they spend on their personal project, so no one notices Cass's productivity change. And only Cass notices the slow accumulation of the pieces of a pala-din in their quarters.

They secret the final piece away from the Forge and back to their room, a sudden sense of trepidation making their stomach roll.

This is it.

This is what they've worked for.

Their fingers tremble.

\--

Slide the final piece into place. - Go to Scene 4-1


	12. Scene 4-1

Cass waits with bated breath once the last bit of marble has been slotted where it belongs. Its smooth construction is almost a surprise; they'd had to make do with such improper tools and equipment. It's a miracle the pala-din looks anything like the design plate at all. 

But it _does_ look like the plate. It's slipping curves where an Anchor would be straight metal and harsh angles. It has hard but delicate facial features rather than a standard-issue helmet. It's limbs look like those of a person and not like those of a war machine. The seams in the marble where the pieces fit together are barely visible despite how crude the tools at Cass's disposal. 

Cass can't help but feel a small bit of pride as they look at their finished creation, silly as it may be. But it looks just like their dream of it did. How can they not feel _something_ at the sight of it? 

Just like in their dream, Cass reaches out. Their fingertips graze one of the pala-din's smooth cheeks. 

\--

Wait. - Go to Scene 4-2


	13. Scene 4-2

Nothing happens.

Cass releases the breath they hadn't realized they were holding, all of the air in their lungs rushing out through their mouth. 

Of _course_ nothing happened. Why would it? The plate the pala-din was patterned off of wasn't even in a language Cass could understand. It was by some misguided instinct and a handful of pictures that guided their hand. What did they _think_ was going to happen?

They swear at themself softly for thinking something as ridiculous as following a weird dream would result in anything more than this: a large stone statue hidden in their already small living space made out of stolen materials and time. 

Fuck. There's going to be so much hell to pay when Koda finds out about this foolish indiscretion.

Sighing, they scrub at their face with one hand. There isn't anything else they can do about it tonight. 

\--

Go to sleep. - Go to Scene 5-1


End file.
